Thiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu

Thiruvannamalai is a divine city of the Tamil Nadu state and is located at the foot of the majestic and huge Arunachala Hill housed in the north of Tamil Nadu. It is also called Tiruvannamalai. It has its own glorious history and this history has been showcased in an uncountable number of poems of numerous renowned Tamil poets. One great example would be Aruagirinathar, who recited the exceptional historical past of Thiruvannamalai, as well as spoke about the significance of a temple dedicated to Lord Arunachalaeshwarar through his work. The city reached its real charm under the rule of Chola kings who undertook the task of beautification of Thiruvannamalai.

The walls of the famous Parakaram temple speak a lot about the place and the spiritual messages have been embossed in copper to give it a unique and attractive look. Thiruvannamalai is popular amongst the worshippers of Lord Shiva and his wife goddess Parvati, as it houses one of the largest temples dedicated to lord Shiva, called Arunachaleswara temple. A famous Indian sage called Ramana Maharishi spent most of his lifetime in Tiruvannamalai in an ashram called Ramana Ashram. This ashram is located at the foot of a hill. Another ashram called Skandashrammam is situated in the midst of the hill.

Tiruvannamalai does not have a single temple dedicated to Lord Brahma and there are several mythological tales associated with this fact. According to these tales, it is believed that once Lord Brahma dared to speak a lie to Lord Shiva and when Shiva came to know about the lie he cursed Lord Brahma, due to which the latter is not worshipped in any of the temples in Tiruvannamalai.